In a gigantic 398-page opinion dated January 19, 2011, Southern District of New York Judge Robert Sweet has denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss in the securities class action lawsuit filed in connection with the collapse of Bear Stearns. He did however grant defendants’ motions to dismiss the related shareholders’ derivative lawsuit and ERISA class
First Circuit Affirms in Part, Reverses in Part Nomura Subprime Securities Suit Dismissal
As a result of the First Circuit’s January 20, 2011 opinion, the plaintiffs in the Nomura Asset Acceptance Corporation mortgage-backed securities lawsuit have managed to revive a slender portion of their case, albeit on a rather precarious basis. The First Circuit otherwise affirmed the lower court’s dismissal of the remainder of their case.
The
Credit Rating Agency Claims Dismissed, But Other Goldman Sachs Subprime Securities Suit Claims Survive
In a January 12, 2010 opinion (here) in a subprime-related securities suit involving Goldman Sachs-issued mortgage pass-through certificates, Southern District of New York Judge Harold Baer, Jr. granted the rating agency defendants’ motion to dismiss on the grounds that they are not "underwriters" under Section 11, but denied the Goldman Sachs defendants’ motion
Morrison Extended Even Further in RBS Subprime Securities Suit Dismissal
In a January 11, 2011 ruling that for the first time extends the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Morrison v. National Australia Bank to claims under the Securities Act of 1933, and that for the first time rejects the "U.S. listing" theory by which plaintiffs in many cases had hoped to contain Morrison, Southern
Subprime and Credit-Crisis Related Securities Cases: The Latest Status
The first subprime-related securities class action lawsuit was filed in February 2007, and so the subprime and credit crisis-related litigation wave will soon enter its fifth year. With the anniversary date just ahead, it seems like an appropriate time to step back for an updated interim status update. I have set out below a numerical
Barclays’ Subprime Related Securities Suit Dismissed
In a January 5, 2011 order, Southern District of New York Judge Paul Crotty granted the defendants’ motions to dismiss the consolidated Barclays Bank subprime-related securities class action lawsuit. A copy of Judge Crotty’s order can be found here. Although Judge Crotty’s order is in many respects just the latest in the series of
The Top Ten D&O Stories of 2010
2010 was an eventful year in the world of D&O liability. Congress passed massive financial reform legislation, the Supreme Court issued landmark decisions in important cases and numerous claims emerged as the litigation landscape continued to evolve. With so much going on, it is a challenge to narrow the year’s events down to just the ten
Some Questions About the NYAG’s Lehman-Related Complaint Against E&Y
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s December 21, 2010 filing of a civil fraud lawsuit against Ernst & Young in connection with the audit firm’s services to Lehman Brothers has captured headlines in business pages around the world. The complaint itself, which can be found here, raises some serious allegations. But the complaint also
Why Ambac’s Subprime Securities Suit Settlement is Noteworthy
In its December 15, 2010 filing of Form 8-K (here), Ambac Financial Group announced that it had entered a memorandum of understanding to settle the subprime-related securities class action lawsuits pending against the company and certain of its directors and officers for a payment of $27.1 million, of which $24.6 million is to
Foreclosure Fiasco Fallout Now Also Includes Securities Suit
The foreclosure paperwork and processing mess has been unfolding on the front pages of the nation’s news papers for several weeks now. While the situation has created a lot of uncertainty, the one thing that seemed probable was that litigation would follow. But while the likelihood for lawsuits seemed high, it did not necessarily follow that